Fiat Coupe 2.0 20v

Sqaull20

Going looking at and have agreed a price with the seller on this Fiat Coupe.

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=124007&cat=all

Anyone have experience with them? Timing belt seems to be the biggest thing as you have to take out the engine to do it and seller says it needs to be changed in 25k miles, which would be 3 years away for me:pac:

Just looking for pointers on what I should be looking out for and what I should expect in the future.

Thanks

colm_mcm

Log on to www.fiatforum.com or www.octane.ie as there are a fair few owners on both sites. The only thing you'll get here is people telling you how rubbish they are.

maidhc

Good car to drive, but they are expensive to run. Apart from the belts they can be troublesome, drink a lot of oil, leak a fair bit of oil and random things do fall off from time to time.

A friend of mine bought a 20v Turbo in the UK and from memory it stands him €2400 or so inc VRT. The seller had receipts totalling £10,000 spent in the past 3 years. So a poorly maintained one could be a fair money pit.

The Turbo is bloody fast, and not too bad on petrol. I'd be inclined to hold out for one if I could.

L1011

colm_mcm wrote: »

Log on to www.fiatforum.co.uk or www.octane.ie as there are a fair few owners on both sites. The only thing you'll get here is people telling you how rubbish they are.

fiatforum.com not .co.uk

knuth

"saxo / civic eater"

Be careful with your inspection.

ronnie3585

lordlame wrote: »

"saxo / civic eater"

Be careful with your inspection.

I thought that too. Also the words 'boy racer' in the tags caught my attention.

In light of the above, the high milage and the price make sure you have a mechanic give it a good once over to make sure the arse hasn't been driven off it!

If it's straight, it's a good bargain. If not, it'll be a black hole of money.

Tropheus

I had a 20v Turbo Limited Edition from new for 3 years.

As has been said, they can be expensive to maintain and drink a lot of oil so you need to check the level on a weekly basis. They're not rocket science in terms of mechanicals so any good mechanic should be able to look after it for you. It's recommended that you do an oil change every 6k miles. That's for the turbo, you may get away with longer on the 20v. Use fully synthetic.

They're not that well put together and tend to rattle and creak a lot. If you've owned Fiat's in the past you'll be used to it. The body work also dents very easily so have a good check around for for marks and scratches.

Only major problem I had was a seized turbo. Seeming this is very rare but I was unlucky. The car was maintained well, but guess I got a Monday morning turbo. The stinger was that it cost €2k to repair:(.

smash

To let you know, that car is a N/A 20v, and it's got the 16v wheels on it for some reason! maybe it's a 16 re-badged as a 20

robtri

super car.... yes it has a few problems.. but sweet car...
make sure you do a full check, and as steve06 says check out make sure its is the 20v....
good luck with it..

Tropheus

I think 97 should be a 20v. I think the last 16vs were manufactured in 1996. I could be wrong though so worth checking. Those wheels were standard on the 20v version. Different wheels on the turbo.

BTW, the car wasn't designed by Ferrari. Nothing close to it. The body was designed by Chris Bangle (of BMW fame who was a Fiat in-house designer at the time) and the interior was designed by Pininfarina hence the Pininfarina badge on the side of the car. Pininfarina originally designed the concept, but Fiat didn't like the exterior so used their own in-house design but kept the Pininfarina interior.

0-60 in 7 seconds is also very optimisitc for a 20v. I was just above 8 IIRC. The turbo was 6.0 secs.

Be careful, this guy sounds like a bul$hitter and you could buy yourself a lot of trouble. Could you get a mechanic to check it over before doing the deal?

maidhc

ksimpson wrote: »

Be careful, this guy sounds like a bul$hitter and you could buy yourself a lot of trouble.

Looking at the ad, I'd definately agree. It doesn't sound like a car showered with love and affection.

smash

ksimpson wrote: »

this guy sounds like a bul$hitter and you could buy yourself a lot of trouble.

The seller is a girl

cabrwab

Lovely car,
Rare enough sight on the roads.
But this person is a clown, sounds like its being ragged about i know if i read the ad and saw civic/saxo eater in the ad or tagged as boy racer.
You could do better, check the forums the guys stated get a better one!

Ferrari designed, knob! I know Penniferina (spelling unknown ATM!) had something to do with it, but so!

Tropheus

Also check similar cars around the same year/milage. This price is very low which tells its own story.

If it's too good to be true, then it most likely is.

B00MSTICK

Whats the insurance like OP?
I seem to remember you being early 20's so it might be an issue.

VolvoMan

steve06 wrote: »

To let you know, that car is a N/A 20v, and it's got the 16v wheels on it for some reason! maybe it's a 16 re-badged as a 20

I don't think there was a normally aspirated five cylinder available in the FIAT Coupe.

colm_mcm

advert wrote:

Designed by Ferrari

Actually designed by Chris Bangle when he worked for the FIAT style centre.


And there was a 20V non turbo. this is one of them - the seller even says it in one of his posts....

Tropheus

VolvoMan wrote: »

I don't think there was a normally aspirated five cylinder available in the FIAT Coupe.

Oh yes there was!

VolvoMan

ksimpson wrote: »

Oh yes there was!

Really? Well you learn something new everyday I suppose.

pcardin

Yes there is a 5-cylinder 20 valve engine on coupes. I own Lancia Kappa which have the same engine. Somebody suggested to make sure it is not 16 valve just baged as 20v....well...it is easy to see just open the bonet. 16valve engine was 4 cylinder where 20valve was 5cylinder. As per costs ,it is not that expensive as you might think. I own my Lancia for 6 years already and I haven't spend even a half of 10000£ as someone mentioned.

VolvoMan

pcardin wrote: »

Yes there is a 5-cylinder 20 valve engine on coupes. I own Lancia Kappa which have the same engine. Somebody suggested to make sure it is not 16 valve just baged as 20v....well...it is easy to see just open the bonet. 16valve engine was 4 cylinder where 20valve was 5cylinder. As per costs ,it is not that expensive as you might think. I own my Lancia for 6 years already and I haven't spend even a half of 10000£ as someone mentioned.

I always thought the only 5 cylinder in the range was the turbo, but after a bit of googling I proved myself wrong.:o

That Kappa you have must be LHD is it? Weren't they launched a little while after Lancia withdrew from RHD markets?

pcardin

Yes it is LHD. They started Kappa on the 1995 and Lancia was out of RHD market by that time.

alias no.9

ksimpson wrote: »

BTW, the car wasn't designed by Ferrari. Nothing close to it. The body was designed by Chris Bangle (of BMW fame who was a Fiat in-house designer at the time) and the interior was designed by Pininfarina hence the Pininfarina badge on the side of the car. Pininfarina originally designed the concept, but Fiat didn't like the exterior so used their own in-house design but kept the Pininfarina interior.

I thought the coupe was designed by Fiat and built for them by Pininfarina, hence the Pininfarina badging.

robtri

alias no.9 wrote: »

I thought the coupe was designed by Fiat and built for them by Pininfarina, hence the Pininfarina badging.

Nope Chris Bangle did it... he was with the Fiat Style centre at the time...

the Pininfarina badge, refers to the interior which was styled and designed by them

Tropheus

robtri wrote: »

Nope Chris Bangle did it... he was with the Fiat Style centre at the time...

the Pininfarina badge, refers to the interior which was styled and designed by them

It was also built by Pininfarina in their factory alongside the Puegeut 405 Coupe. Last ones rolled off the production line in 2000 although there still were some new ones avialable during 2001 and possibly 2002.

cdb

I had a 1995 16v four-cylinder non-turbo coupe for almost 5 years and when I finally traded it in it had over 135,000 miles on the clock. In that time I changed the timing belts, replaced the catalytic converter and trailing arms (to pass the NCT) but did very little else bar normal servicing.

The normally aspirated (non-turbo) versions are considerably less risky to run than the turbo ones but it is a FIAT so it is not bulletproof, you can expect a few niggles and will probably have to spend a bit on some obscure replacement parts especially as the car gets older.

That said, they are a fantastic car to drive, the handling is sharp and responsive and you will not tire of the engine noise in a hurry. On the downside the 16v was a little loud and intrusive on long motorway journeys but the 20v five-cylinder engine is supposedly smoother, more powerful and far more reliable.

Get the car checked by a competent mechanic and if you are looking at a well maintained example it will cost roughly the same to run as most medium-sized cars of the same age and will offer you loads more fun while doing so. They are not for everyone but then that is part of the appeal. I certainly loved owning a Fiat coupe and would highly recommend getting one if you are prepared to live with the odd repair bill.

smash

@ksimpson: you mean 406 Coupe

alias no.9

robtri wrote: »

Nope Chris Bangle did it... he was with the Fiat Style centre at the time...

Nope? What part of designed in house by Fiat, is contradicted by the above?

robtri wrote: »

the Pininfarina badge, refers to the interior which was styled and designed by them

It was definitely built by Pininfarina.

pcardin

alias no.9 wrote: »

Nope? What part of designed in house by Fiat, is contradicted by the above?



It was definitely built by Pininfarina.

Don't shake the watter! Peugeot 406 coupe was completely build by Pininfarina. Fiat Coupe was build by Fiat and just the interior was art of Pininfarina.

robtri

alias no.9 wrote: »

Nope? What part of designed in house by Fiat, is contradicted by the above?



It was definitely built by Pininfarina.

My bat, mis read your post, I got what you where saying backwards ....

kuro_man

Check for mods: engine chips, remaps, crap body kits, respray etc.
I was in the market for a 20v turbo for about a year but only saw 1 straight one - all others either ruined with mods or neglect. Probably more common on the turbo that the n/a.

If I were you, I wait for a 20v turbo or buy one from UK - they have an LSD too and worth the extra. Also, they won't depreciate much and may even appreciate if you find a good original ummolested example. The non-turbos will eventually be worthless.

check for rust, front-light lenses (clean or smokey), cv-joints and ALL electrics. Make sure boot is dry and lid closes cleanly and and all doors close normally and are flush with body. Also, make sure you get a red master key - don't buy without it. there is a full buyers checklist on the fcc website.

pcardin

My Lancia Kappa saloon has 2.0 20v 5-cylinder engine but I also own Lancia Kappa Coupe 2.0 20v 5-cylinder Turbo engine and I as an user can tell you they both do 0-60 mph in 7-8 seconds (and I can prove that) even where turbo version has 67 horsepower more than non-turbo. They both can easy get to 230 km/h (limited electronicaly) but nonturbo engine has less fuel consumption and less hassle. So I wouldn't go so blind for Turbo version if a good non-turbo is available.

unkel

pcardin wrote: »

My Lancia Kappa saloon has 2.0 20v 5-cylinder engine but I also own Lancia Kappa Coupe 2.0 20v 5-cylinder Turbo engine and I as an user can tell you they both do 0-60 mph in 7-8 seconds

The 20V non turbo in the Lancia Kappa is in a different tune than the same engine in the FIAT Coupe. It has more power and torque than the FIAT Coupe. That might explain performance closer together in your Lancias. Also the Kappa is obviously a lot heavier, so it's slower than the FIAT. In the FIAT Coupe, the 0-100km/h times are 6.5s and 8.9s for turbo and non-turbo, quite a big difference imho!

pcardin

pcardin

Ok, I will not argue as I never had Fiat Coupe. But I'm still saying from my own experience that to run 2.0 20v engine is less expensive than Turbo version. It is a fact.

unkel

And the turbo engines are in different tune too. Same BHP and torque, but both are earlier available in the FIAT.

pcardin

I think , but I'm not sure, that Lancia engines have different air intake system so they run much better. I haven't check that just guessing.

Sqaull20

:eek: Thanks for all the replies lads, really!

I dont think I will go with it, lad selling it seems genuine enough when I spoke to him, but its too much of a risk! Its a stunning machine and I suppose it would be perfect if I had a real knowledge or cars, but I dont.Was only interested in it because of its looks, performance is similar to my diesel fabia lol:pac: not a civic type r beater;)

Sqaull20

B00MSTICK wrote: »

Whats the insurance like OP?
I seem to remember you being early 20's so it might be an issue.

:pac:

Yeah I rang around, easier to get insurance on a rally car

I knew that though, I wasnt going to nsure the car in my name, my uncle has commerical insurance on his landrover and was going to insure the car for me on a seperate policy, worked out at €411 for him and I have drive other cars on my policy.Which would be fine as long as I didn't crash into someone, as it only covers third party:(

pcardin

Sqaull20 wrote: »

performance is similar to my diesel fabia lol:pac: not a civic type r beater;)

:eek: You can't be serious! I don't believe this! Bring your Fabia Saturday and I'll prove you're so wrong!

unkel

Sqaull20 wrote: »

not a civic type r beater;)

I'd say a turbo is though. Time for your plan B

maidhc

pcardin wrote: »

:eek: You can't be serious! I don't believe this! Bring your Fabia Saturday and I'll prove you're so wrong!

If it is a VRS...

B00MSTICK

Squall20 wrote:

performance is similar to my diesel fabia lol not a civic type r beater

The FTO you're looking at on adverts is though

I almost went down the DOC route with mine, but decided it was a bit too much messing about seeing as I already own the car etc. Maybe for my next one...

Sqaull20

pcardin wrote: »

:eek: You can't be serious! I don't believe this! Bring your Fabia Saturday and I'll prove you're so wrong!

Maybe you will, but i think my remapped fabia vrs ( haven't checked it out on a rolling road or anything but it should be putting out about 160bhp-170bhp and alot of torque )

Car mags have it doing 8secs to 100kmh, near 220kmh top speed and around 10-11 secs from 100kmh to 180kmh in 4th gear.So it would be close enough, not bad for a small diesel :pac:

http://www.superchips.co.uk/roadtest/skodafabiars.pdf

Sqaull20

B00MSTICK wrote: »

The FTO you're looking at on adverts is though

I almost went down the DOC route with mine, but decided it was a bit too much messing about seeing as I already own the car etc. Maybe for my next one...

Would it though:D? Type R's wouldn't be my thing, but you do have to have serious power to leave one of them behind when they are in the vtec;) I played with one before and wont be doing again:(

Would be the car to get alright, I cant imagine a 2.0l mitsubishi giving much trouble!

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=118010&cat=all

B00MSTICK

Yep. That FTO has Mivec, a sexy smooth siren of a V6 and nearly 200BHP to play with.

Its more of an ITR rival than a CTR one. If you don't like VTEC then maybe its not for you though!

pcardin

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Maybe you will, but i think my remapped fabia vrs ( haven't checked it out on a rolling road or anything but it should be putting out about 160bhp-170bhp and alot of torque )

Car mags have it doing 8secs to 100kmh, near 220kmh top speed and around 10-11 secs from 100kmh to 180kmh in 4th gear.So it would be close enough, not bad for a small diesel :pac:

http://www.superchips.co.uk/roadtest/skodafabiars.pdf

It is just the theory you are giving. Reality is different. I wouldn't let you race with your fabia anyway. It is not designed to go any faster than 50km/h. And have you tried to drive on 220 km/h? Do you know what may happen whith that little car if you drive faster than 160?

Sqaull20

Hehe :pac:

Atomic Pineapple

i'd go for the FTO as well if i were you there lovely cars with a great sound, you wouldn't be beaten ITR's in it but you'd certainly keep up